Ozen begins new era with Suggs

David Berr, Beaumont Enterprise

By David Berry

Published 9:37 am, Wednesday, May 28, 2014

A player clutches a ball to his chest as he runs through coordination drills during Tuesday's practice. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

A player clutches a ball to his chest as he runs through...

A player runs through coordination drills during Tuesday's practice. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

A player runs through coordination drills during Tuesday's...

Coach David Suggs corrects players during drills at Tuesday's practice. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

Coach David Suggs corrects players during drills at Tuesday's...

Players run through obstacles during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

Players run through obstacles during practice Tuesday afternoon....

Rodney Randle and other players run through drills during Tuesday's practice. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

Rodney Randle and other players run through drills during Tuesday's...

Players run drills during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

Players run drills during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Ozen High...

Coach David Suggs directs players during drills at Tuesday's practice. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

Coach David Suggs directs players during drills at Tuesday's...

Linemen collide during drills at Tuesday's practice. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

Linemen collide during drills at Tuesday's practice. The Ozen High...

Ozen football players run through a play during offensive practice Tuesday afternoon. The Ozen High School football team practiced Tuesday afternoon at the school.
Photo taken Tuesday 5/27/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
Photo: Jake Daniels

Ozen's senior-to-be running back looked up David Suggs after he was hired to be the Panthers' newest head coach in mid-April. What Randle found out is that Suggs likes to run the football.

That's just fine with Randle, who along with sophomore-to-be running back Calvin Tyler, could form a solid duo in the Ozen backfield.

"Last year we didn't run it like we were supposed to," said Randle, who ran for 225 yards and two touchdowns as a junior. "This year, we're going to get the ball a lot more."

Under former coach Keeath Magee, the Ozen offensewas fast-paced in everything they did. The emphasis at practice would be to run as many plays as possible and get the ball out of the quarterback's hands quickly. In Suggs' offense, the Panthers will take more of an I-formation, pro-style approach, choosing to run the ball to set

up the pass instead of vice versa.

Suggs says that a lot of the offense has been installed. Right now, it is about finding the personnel to fit the scheme. He has had to get athletes to play tight end, a position that was non-existent in last year's offense.

"Based on our goals for the spring, we probably have 85 or 90 percent in what we wanted to achieve," said Suggs, who coached at Port Arthur Lincoln and Central in the early 2000s. "It hasn't been a real hard transition for the kids at all."

Along with getting used to the new coach and plays being called, the Ozen players are trying to forget about a tumultuous spring that did not involve the players much, but rather left them as collateral damage.

Players had to deal with the hiring of Plez Atkins, only for his contract to be revoked about a week later after it was found out that Atkins had his teaching certificate suspended due to an improper relationship with a student while in the Mansfield ISD. Prior to that, Magee somewhat unexpectedly resigned to take an assistant coaching position at Pearl River Community College in Mississippi.

After he left, emails came out in which Magee strongly criticized Ozen principal Odis Norris and went as far as accusing Norris of harassing his wife.

With all that went on, Suggs believes that the team has responded and moved on well.

"I think it's just human nature," Suggs said about the players being affected by what happened off the field. "Even though you're a far, indirect piece of everything that's going on, I think it affects people in general. These kids are no different. But kids usually have a greater bounce back than us old adults with bad habits. They've done a very good job."

With Ozen's spring game this Thursday evening, players and coaches alike are excited to get out there and show what the Panthers will have for the 2014 season.

After the research Randle did, he is excited to be coached by Suggs, who coached current Tampa Bay Buccaneers Anthony Collins (Central) and Mike Evans (Galveston Ball).

"The record with players he's coached," Randle said with a grin. "I like that."